


The Youngest Ice Harvester

by Javadore



Series: Kristoff Drabbles [4]
Category: Frozen (2013)
Genre: Backstory, Childhood, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-18
Updated: 2014-02-18
Packaged: 2018-01-12 21:38:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1201567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Javadore/pseuds/Javadore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kristoff and Sven finally get to join the ice harvesters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Youngest Ice Harvester

**Author's Note:**

> Hasn't been beta-ed yet, so I apologize for any glaring mistakes.

If there was one thing that Kristoff could remember about his earlier life, it was that it was very cold. He could still faintly hear the soft cries that synched perfectly with the sobbing chest that his face was buried in at one point. There had been yelling, a loud crack, and then suddenly a cool rush of air as the arms that had enveloped him disappeared over the rocky edge of the cliff. He couldn’t remember what happened next, all that came to mind was blurred colors that whirled past his face with the biting wind. The next clear moment he had he was waking up in a stable, a thin worn blanket laid over his tiny form, and a tiny reindeer calf snuggled into his side. The two of them had quickly bonded (after quite a bunch of face licking to Kristoff’s frustration) and had become inseparable since.

Finding the ice harvesters had been like a dream come true to the boy, who had had for several months had fend for himself and Sven on the streets of a bustling merchant town. There were other orphans who resided under stoops and behind the village buildings, curling up in whatever materials they could scrounge up after a long day of begging or stealing (but mostly pleading) for someone to feed them, to notice them.

Kristoff had never really gotten a hand of the tricks of the trade that being a street urchin required, and upon discovering that as long as they could keep up the ice harvesters they would allow them to tag along on their trips, had sold off any and all possessions he had to scrounge up just enough to buy the tiny sled. It had come in relatively bad shape, the wood warped from improper sealing methods and the treads rusty from water damage, but with perseverance the two of them had cleaned it up.

The first day Sven pulled them up besides the ice harvesters they were both beaming with pride at their work, and the harvesters had laughed and patted them on the head and back. Kristoff could still remember their smiles and laughter as they joked about the ‘newest men to join their troop.’ The head of the group, normally a stern man whose face Kristoff was convinced was incapable of smiling, pulled him off to the side while the rest of the harvesters were packing their supplies.

At first Kristoff was worried, and though he tried very hard to keep his face calm, the boy couldn’t help the tears that started to form at the corners of his eyes. All that work was going to be for nothing if the man decided that Kristoff couldn’t come. Kristoff had bowed his head, his fists clenched into tiny balls not out of rage, but in order to try to contain his wave of emotion that threatened to cause him to have a break down.

To his surprise, the man instead knelt down and raised his head with the tip of his fingers. His piercing dark eyes bored into Kristoff’s glimmering ones, and the man pulled out a small set of ice prongs.

'It is very dangerous out on the ice, young one. If you aren't careful, if you wander off from the group at all, you will likely freeze to death. You're a smart lad, so I know that you can fend for yourself in town, but the wilderness is quite different, and I can't risk the lives of my men to search for you if you get lost. Do you understand this?'

Blinking back his tears, Kristoff’s eyes widened in surprise at the man’s words. He wasn’t going to stop him! It wasn’t going to be all for naught, and he’d actually get to go! Standing dumbstruck for a minute, Kristoff snapped back into his mind at the gentle squeeze the man gave him. He nodded, catching a gasp that had been building in his throat from anticipation, which ended up coming out as a squeak. The man continued to look expectantly at the boy, and Kristoff quickly realized he would have to respond.

'Yes' he whispered, his voice sounding quite small amongst the shouting of the men filling the carts. With a nod the man handed the prongs to Kristoff and stood, ruffling his hair as he stood. Kristoff looked up at him, seeing he still wore the stern, emotionless express that always plastered his face, but as the man turned back to the group the boy could have sworn he had seen the corner of his lips rise.

Once the man had wandered over to the check the carts, Kristoff gently turned the prongs over in his hands. They were small, much smaller than the ones the adults used, but he smiled at how smooth the metal was, with only a few, tiny rough edges running along the inside of the prongs. The handles were perfectly smooth though, and it looked like they had been worn down for a very long time in order to get them that way.

Carefully shifting them to their proper position for lifting ice, Kristoff turned to Sven and mimicked reaching down and clasping the prongs. The boy could have sworn that Sven grinned for a second before the reindeer was all over him.

'Wait Sven!, the boy yelped as he was tackled by the exuberant ball of fur, 'you're gonna tangle your harness!'

Sven stopped his jumping for a minute, peering back at the straps connecting him to their sled, before turning back to Kristoff and quickly licking the boy’s face.

'Svennnn,' the boy whined as he wiped saliva off his face, 'you're gonna get me all wet and then it'll freeze!'

The reindeer in turn seemed to grin, nuzzling up to the boy as peels of laughter rang from behind the two of them. The men had started to board the carts, but at catching sight of the boy and the reindeer had stopped to chuckle at the young’uns.

Kristoff felt his cheeks burn at the sound of their laughter, but quickly pushed any feeling of embarrassment down as his mind started to wander to the up and coming afternoon. He gave Sven a pat on the back, a quick hug, and carefully placing his new prongs on the sled, he climbed up onto it, grabbing the reins. Sven bleated in anticipation, and quickly trotted over to the carts, lining up nearer to the back and standing proud as Kristoff tried to find the best way to tuck the prongs into the sleigh. Eventually hooking it under the curve of the sleigh through some extra reins he had on board, he looked up to see a few smiling faces of the older men, who upon noticing the younger boy was looking, quickly turned or found something to adjust on their sleds.

Kristoff couldn’t help the tiny smile that came to his face. Finally he would get a chance to go out onto the ice. Finally he would get to do what he dreamed of doing, exploring the wilderness with his best friend and hunting down the most perfect, unmarked Ice.

And they wouldn’t have to do it alone.


End file.
